Biggles on The Home Front

Biggles #59

by W.E. Johns

, 190 pages, 6 colour illustrated plates (including frontispiece),

Genres: Adventure

190 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1957

About the author

Invariably known as Captain W.E. Johns, William Earl Johns was born in Bengeo, Hertfordshire, England. He was the son of Richard Eastman Johns, a tailor, and Elizabeth Johns (née Earl), the daughter of a master butcher. He had a younger brother, Russell Ernest Johns, who was born on 24 October 1895.

He went to Hertford Grammar School where he was no great scholar but he did develop into a crack shot with a rifle. This fired his early ambition to be a soldier. He also attended evening classes at the local art school.

In the summer of 1907 he was apprenticed to a county municipal surveyor where he remained for four years and then in 1912 he became a sanitary inspector in Swaffham, Norfolk. Soon after taking up this appointment, his father died of tuberculosis at the age of 47.

On 6 October 1914 he married Maude Penelope Hunt (1882–1961), the daughter of the Reverend John Hunt, the vicar at Little Dunham in Norfolk. The couple had one son, William Earl Carmichael Johns, who was born in March 1916.

With war looming he joined the Territorial Army as a Private in the King's Own Royal Regiment (Norfolk Yeomanry), a cavalry regiment. In August 1914 his regiment was mobilised and was in training and on home defence duties until September 1915 when they received embarkation orders for duty overseas.

He fought at Gallipoli and in the Suez Canal area and, after moving to the Machine gun Corps, he took part in the spring offensive in Salonika in April 1917. He contracted malaria and whilst in hospital he put in for a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps and on 26 September 1917, he was given a temporary commission as a Second Lieutenant and posted back to England to learn to fly, which he did at No. 1 School of Aeronautics at Reading, where he was taught by a Captain Ashton.

He was posted to No. 25 Flying Training School at Thetford where he had a charmed existence, once writing off three planes in three days. He moved to Yorkshire and was then posted to France and while on a bombing raid to Mannheim his plane was shot down and he was wounded. Captured by the Germans, he later escaped before being reincarcerated where he remained until the war ended.

Reviews

[Rtrv2 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. W. E. Johns made an effort to create a different kind of Biggles story which takes place in and around London. We learn some thieves' slang of the era. Unlike some of the worst Biggles books, there is some flying in this one. But overall it's still a bit lacklustre. Biggles and Co. spend much of the book driving up and down the Great North Road and visiting a pub.

For a more entertaining story with a similar domestic setting but a much more bizarre plot, I recommend "Biggles and the Noble Lord".

[Ginevra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favorite Biggles, but still a cracking good read, with Biggles and crew consistent in their character and daring dos...

[Sem · Rating 2 out of 5]

This should have been titled 'Biggles Loses His Edge.'

[Sonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am reviewing the series as a whole, rather than the books individually
The Biggles series is great adventure fiction: we get high stakes, aerial action (in most of the books), and a hero who is endlessly loyal, competent, and calm under pressure.

I love the dogfights, recon missions, and wartime scenarios.

Where the series falls short is character depth. Some attitudes and simplifications reflect the period in which the books were written. There are very definitely dated elements, but considering the era the books were written - overall the series performs well. More than a few of the stories defy plausibility, but who doesn't love to curl up with a good adventure book or 10?

“Never say die.”

[Tommy Verhaegen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een van de avonturen van Biggles en zijn vrienden waarin weinig vliegtuigen voorkomen, en dan nog enkel in een ondergecschikte rol.
Een spannend boek vol aktie maar nogal ongeloofwaardig van opzet. Wie daar kan doorkijken kan van de avonturen van onze helden, die in paren van 2 optreden, genieten. Het speelt zich hoofdzakelijk af tussen een bar met louche klanten en een landgoed met een crimineel brein aan het hoofd. Onze vrienden opereren vanuit een hotelkamer. Ik zou bijna zeggen "uiteraard" moeten de helden hun leven in gevaar brengen om een bende juwelendieven op te sporen. Opnieuw een origneel avontuur van 'Captain' Johns.

[Edwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Velen beschouwen dit als een van de beste Biggles boeken ooit. Maar ik ben helaas een andere mening toegedaan. Het was een aardig verhaal, maar zie niet in waarom dit boek beter zou zijn dan een van de eerdere delen

Inspecteur Gaskin van de politie zit in de maag met een aantal juwelen-diefstallen en vermoedt dat er gebruik van een vliegtuig wordt gemaakt. Biggles besluit te helpen, en al snel wordt er een plan gemaakt. Biggles gaat undercover als juwelen-dief. Dit betekend groot gevaar voor hem en Ginger, als de uiteindelijke heler van de juwelen hem blijkt te herkennen. Op het laatste nippertje worden ze gered uit een brandende huis.

[Marie-Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-read 20/12 -99